Marriage Story (2019)

Directed by Noah Baumbach. Starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Azhy Robertson, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, Brooke Bloom, Wallace Shawn. [R]

More accurately, Divorce Story (or at the very least, Marriage Autopsy); shows the detailed—and sometimes agonizing—process of spouses (Driver, Johansson) separating while struggling to remain on reasonable terms and share custody with their child (Robertson). Incisive and bitter yet deeply humane and ultimately compassionate, writer/director Baumbach has created a stirring, sharply-crafted examination of irreconcilable differences, the toll of wreckage and the shared hurt, where blame is felt, weaponized, and ultimately beclouded. It’s an imperfect creation, to be sure, with certain scenes and moments that veer off course (the “knife trick,” lawyer Dern’s speech while prepping her client for court questioning, etc.), but there are plenty more sequences of raw honesty, understated power, and relatable discomfort that ring true. Driver and Johansson both give bravura performances, as good as they’ve ever been before, and it’s a testament to the angles they choose and the confidence in the characters they portray that neither one can (or would) claim any kind of “victory,” Pyrrhic or otherwise, once the smoke finally clears.

86/100